Along The Road

Along the Road is the place to look for information about current and upcoming activities, developments, trends, and items of general interest to the highway community. This information comes from U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) sources unless otherwise indicated. Your suggestions and input are welcome. Let's meet along the road.

Management and Administration

New Research Shows Enforcement Cuts Distracted Driving

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood recently
announced dramatic reductions in distracted driving in Hartford, CT, and
Syracuse, NY. The reductions come after two pilot programs measured the effects
of increased law enforcement coupled with high-profile public education
campaigns. The findings show that strong laws combined with visible police
enforcement can significantly reduce texting and the use of cell phones behind
the wheel.

Researchers conducting the two programs examined whether
increased police enforcement, along with paid advertising and news media
coverage, could reduce distracted driving during four periods of stepped-up
enforcement between March 2010 and April 2011. The pilot efforts featured a
media campaign theme, "Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other," and were
structured similarly to the highly successful national "Click It or Ticket"
seatbelt campaign.

Before and after each enforcement wave, researchers with the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) observed cell phone use
on roadways and conducted public awareness surveys at driver licensing offices
in the two cities. In Syracuse, both handheld cell phone use and texting behind
the wheel declined by one-third. In Hartford, where researchers initially
identified drivers talking on their cell phones at twice the frequency of those
in Syracuse, there was a 57 percent drop in handheld use, and texting behind
the wheel decreased by nearly three-fourths.

NHTSA has not yet determined which States will be chosen to
expand the program, but plans to test the same three-part formula -- tougher
laws, stronger enforcement, and ongoing public awareness -- statewide in the
future.

FHWA Report Provides Template For Statewide Freight Plans

The Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of
Freight Management and Operations recently released
a report that provides a template that State departments of transportation (DOTs)
can use to develop their statewide freight plans. The template is adaptable so
a State can choose to use the entire template or just draw on particular parts
of it, depending on the State's unique situation.

Freight transportation is complex
because it involves many stakeholders who have varying views on how to resolve
the challenges facing the industry. One of the biggest challenges for the
public sector is incorporating these diverse freight perspectives into the
transportation planning process.

The report recommends that States
conduct a freight analysis -- whether
included in the update of a general transportation plan or specifically in a
freight plan -- during their broader
transportation planning processes. It also recommends that States develop their
freight plans in coordination with public and private sector entities that are
involved with freight movement. According to the report, "Outreach will be a
key component of developing an effective freight plan. Developing and fostering
relationships with all freight stakeholders will ensure that the plan addresses
key issues and concerns of all involved in freight movement in the State."

Policy and Legislation

First-Ever Fuel Standards Announced For Heavy-Duty Trucks

Under recently announced rules, the Nation's medium- and
heavy-duty trucks will be required to meet standards for fuel efficiency and
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the first time, beginning in 2014. The
standards will save approximately $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of
the program. According to NHTSA estimates, trucks and buses built in 2014
through 2018 will reduce U.S. oil consumption by 530 million barrels and GHG
emissions by 270 million metric tons.

USDOT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
jointly developed the national program with support from other stakeholders,
including the trucking industry. The joint program will include a range of
targets that are specific to diverse vehicle types and purposes. This flexible
structure enables significant but achievable fuel efficiency goals to be
charted for each year and for each vehicle category and type.

Fuel efficiency standards for trucks like these go into
effect in 2014.

Beyond the direct benefits to businesses that own and operate
these vehicles, the program also will benefit consumers and businesses by
reducing costs for transporting goods. The program will improve energy and
national security, reduce harmful air pollution, and spur job growth in the clean
energy sector by fostering innovative technologies and providing regulatory
certainty for manufacturers.

Technical News

Good compaction of newly placed hot-mix asphalt (HMA) is
needed to ensure longer lasting performance. Through the Technology
Partnerships Program, FHWA and Haskell Lemon Construction Co. of Oklahoma City,
OK, developed and tested a quality control tool to assist paving contractors in
real time.

The Intelligent Asphalt Compaction Analyzer (IACA) is mounted
on pavement rollers and analyzes their vibrations using neural network
technology. It relates pavement responses in real time to the contractor's
compaction operations. The new technology can take the guesswork out of paving
jobs, enabling roller operators to view the information on a monitor and
evaluate when the compaction is sufficient.

This IACA prototype is installed on a vibratory asphalt compactor. Equipment operators view pavement details on the monitor.

Independent testing of the device was conducted at nine sites
in Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania on full-depth HMA. Now that
the Technology Partnerships evaluation is complete, project partner Volvo
Construction Equipment plans to introduce the IACA as an option on new
compactors in the future.

Nation's Largest Solar Highway Project to Power Rest Area

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez recently
joined State and local officials in Wilsonville, OR, for a groundbreaking for
the installation of a solar array along Interstate 5. The solar array is on 7
acres (2.8 hectares) owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).
ODOT officials expect the Baldock Solar Highway project -- the Nation's second
such project -- to be completed and begin generating clean, renewable energy by
early 2012.

The Baldock installation
will consist of nearly 7,000 panels, each 250 watts, in a 1.75-megawatt array
that will produce approximately 1.97 million kilowatt-hours of energy. Some of
that energy will power the nearby Baldock Safety Rest Areas on I-5 in Clackamas
County, OR.

"Finding sources of renewable energy is in everyone's
interest and is consistent with sound transportation policy," Mendez says. The
Baldock Solar Highway project reflects State and national policies focused on
developing sustainable energy resources, will help the State and ODOT meet
renewable energy goals, and will create or sustain 60-70 jobs.

The Baldock project is funded through a public-private partnership and will feed energy into the
Portland General Electric grid. In addition to green energy, the project
will generate renewable energy certificates, certifying the ownership of green
power, that will be shared primarily between Portland General Electric and
ODOT. FHWA assisted ODOT in the design, environmental review, and issues
related to right-of-way and traffic control for the project.

This artist’s rendering shows the Baldock Solar Highway outside Portland, OR, which will be the Nation’s second and largest highway-related solar installation (the first is also on Oregon’s I–5).

Electronic Document Management Improves Utility Coordination

Each year millions of dollars are spent to relocate or
adjust utility facilities prior to road construction projects. Greater emphasis
on coordination early in the process can facilitate streamlined utility
relocations, expedite project delivery, and reduce the potential for
construction delays and extra costs.

Toward that end, a
technology implementation group within the American Association of State
Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) recently selected the Utility
Relocation Electronic Document Management System (UREDMS) as one of its focus
technologies. The UREDMS technology facilitates communications and document
management to help expedite utility relocation.

A Web-based project
planning and construction program, UREDMS provides secure communications,
document submission, access to stored documents, and report generation. In
addition to a paperless process, UREDMS reduces the need for physical storage
space, minimizes lost or misplaced files, and offers a secure environment for
transportation agencies and utilities to share information. Further, the system
provides a platform to enhance coordination, cooperation, and communications
among all stakeholders to help ensure project success.

A Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) project in Atlanta, GA, is relocating these utilities.

To encourage use of the UREDMS technology, the AASHTO
technology implementation group and FHWA have formed a Lead States Team with
representatives from the Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New
Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Texas DOTs. Team members are available to provide
guidance and answer questions as agencies consider use of this technology.

FHWA Report HighlightsReclaimed
Asphalt Pavement Use

Many State DOTs are looking at increasing their use of
reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) to conserve natural resources and save money.
A new report from FHWA, Reclaimed
Asphalt Pavement in Asphalt Mixtures: State of the Practice (FHWA-HRT-11-021),
highlights RAP use across the United States. The report also describes best
practices for increasing the percentage of RAP used in HMA pavements while
maintaining high-quality infrastructure.

The use of RAP enables DOTs to reduce the need for virgin
aggregate, a scarce commodity that in some regions necessitates high
transportation costs. Using RAP also reduces the amount of costly new asphalt
binder required to produce paving mixtures. In addition to lowering project
costs, by using RAP, State agencies can decrease the construction debris added
to landfills.

Analyses of test sections
containing 30 percent RAP showed similar performance and pavement life when
compared to virgin asphalt sections. The test sections were part of FHWA's
Long-Term Pavement Performance program and were located across the United
States and Canada.

Public Information and Information
Exchange

Now Available: State Best Practice Policy for Medians

Safety is USDOT's number one priority, and that includes
providing safe and effective accommodation of pedestrians wherever possible.
Recently, FHWA's Office of Safety published the State Best Practice Policy for Medians (FHWA-SA-11-019), which details the benefits of raised medians and highlights
three State DOTs -- Florida, New York, and Oregon -- that have implemented policies
and plans to promote their use.

FHWA encourages State and local agencies to consider raised
medians in curbed sections of multilane roadways in urban and suburban areas,
particularly where there are mixtures of a significant number of pedestrians, high
volumes of traffic, and intermediate or high travel speeds. Adding medians and
refuge islands to roadways can increase both pedestrian and motor vehicle
safety, helping to solve multiple challenges. They enable pedestrians to cross
one direction of traffic at a time rather than having to anticipate traffic for
the entire width of the road. Raised medians also provide a space to install
improved lighting, which can reduce nighttime pedestrian fatalities at
crossings by 78 percent. In addition, these countermeasures lower vehicle
speeds on the roadway, reduce motor vehicle crashes by 15 percent, decrease
delays for motorists by more than 30 percent, and increase the capacity of
roadways by more than 30 percent.

The new publication also addresses budget and maintenance
concerns, which can hinder implementation of these policies. To deal with
concerns regarding winter road maintenance, for example, the New York State
Department of Transportation trained and educated snowplow drivers to increase
their confidence and ability to adapt to plowing around this roadway design.

Smarter Traveler System Helps
Commuters Before They Drive

California’s Smarter Traveler Research Initiative will build a model of a commuter’s route and then send travel alerts via email or text message, such as this one received on a smartphone.

Researchers at the California Department of Transportation,
IBM, and the University of California, Berkeley, recently announced a joint
research initiative to develop an intelligent transportation solution that will
help commuters avoid congestion and enable transportation planners to better
predict traffic flow. The Smarter Traveler Research Initiative will use
predictive analytics software, global positioning system (GPS) monitoring, and
road sensors to build a model of each participating motorist's usual commuting
route and then send targeted traffic alerts. The initiative will enable
commuters to check a forecast of their route before they leave the house.

Spanning the San Francisco Bay area, the Smarter Traveler
project is an opt-in program that uses a participating driver's GPS in his or
her mobile phone to develop common routes for a morning commute, for example.
These routes are then cross-referenced with real-time traffic data from sensors
in the roadways and predictive analytics capabilities to alert the traveler to
traffic jams or other potential problems before they even exist. This
information will generate alerts that are delivered automatically via email or
text message on the status of the driver's typical commute before the trip
begins -- providing the additional benefit of eliminating potential distraction
once the driver is on the road.

Traffic delays caused by crashes, work zones, or simply daily
rush hours routinely cause commuters across the United States to waste on
average almost a week's worth of time, 28 gallons of gas, and $808 over the
course of a year. The IBM Smarter Traveler alerts will enable drivers to plan
alternative routes to avoid congestion and save time and money, while helping
transportation agencies reduce bumper-to-bumper traffic through improved
traffic signal timing, ramp metering, and route planning.

IBM

YouTube Video Explains Procedures For Setting Speed Limits

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and
Michigan State Police have released a YouTube video to help motorists
understand how speed limits are established. The 1-minute video, which explains
the process that State agencies use to set speed limits, is available on MDOT's
YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/michigandot.

As explained in the video, MDOT works closely with partners
in law enforcement to establish the safest speed limits possible for the
benefit of all motorists. Speed studies are conducted to determine the 85th percentile speed and identify reasonable driver behavior for a particular
stretch of roadway. Speed studies are one component of an engineering and
traffic investigation and are a nationally accepted guideline for setting speed
limits. A survey team in the field identifies and considers other factors,
including crash data, traffic volumes, roadside development, roadway
configuration and condition, number of intersections and driveways, and
sidewalks, all of which may influence road users.

MDOT and police officials note that a comprehensive analysis
for determining speed limits relies heavily on identifying normal and safe
driver behavior and whether a given speed limit is realistic.

Kentucky Uses RSAs to Support Healthy Communities

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in
partnership with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and FHWA's Kentucky Division,
recently asked health departments across the State to conduct walkability
audits as a part of the State's Healthy Communities initiative. The initiative
seeks to improve communities' health through policy, systems, and environmental
changes. The agencies established the program in response to Kentucky's 2010
rankings as seventh highest in obesity and sixth lowest in physical activity.

To support the health departments' efforts, the FHWA Office
of Safety trained local personnel on road safety audits (RSAs) through 1-day
workshops held in the towns of Bowling Green, Frankfort, and London. Nearly 80
people attended the training courses, and participants included representatives
from each health department in the area, officials from cities and municipalities
where the health departments are planning audits, and representatives from the
local highway district offices and area development districts. The training
provided an overview of the eight-step RSA process with a focus on pedestrians
and also included a field exercise.

The local agencies will use the results from the walkability
audits to select streets or roadways to undergo more comprehensive pedestrian
road safety audits. Once the RSAs are completed and analyzed, the
multidisciplinary review team will submit a report to the appropriate governing
bodies.